A Bonding Moment
by Nature-Guardian
Summary: Before Blu and Jewel visit Luiz the Bulldog, our two heroes have some time to begin to realize their rocky friendship is now becoming something entirely different.


_**A Bonding Moment**_

_(WARNING: This entire story (intro and outro included) contains heavy spoilers of the 2011 movie Rio.)_

_Just a simple story I came up with, it's about Blu and Jewel starting to feel their now rocky friendship is becoming something entirely different (wink) It takes place between the trolley scene and meeting Luiz the bulldog. This is my very first story I ever published anywhere in my whole life, so please be aware that it may not be the best._

The evening sky had turned from pink to a deep, lovely red as the trolley rumbled on. Nico the Yellow Canary and Pedro the Red-Crested Cardinal had long since given up on trying to get the two blue Spix Macaws Jewel and Blu to become mates after watching Jewel trying to get the petal that had stuck itself in Blu's throat out. However, Rafael the Toucan still had one more trick up his sleeve. _This has got to work. It _has_ to!_ He thought as he organized the plan.

"One…more…time!" Jewel grunted as she pressed her wings against Blu's stomach. Blu suddenly let out an ugly sounding yelp as the petal flew from his beak. He stumbled backwards, his back landed against the hard, hot metal of the trolley, knocking the last of the air out of him. Blu just lay there, gasping for breath.

"Th-ank…y-y-you…" Blu stammered to Jewel. She was perched over his head, looking at him anxiously.

"Are you okay?" She asked with genuine concern. (_Hey, she cares!_ Blu thought joyfully.) Blu struggled to get up. "Y-eah…" He muttered, struggling to get up. Jewel perched behind him and held out her talons, Blue grabbed them with his own and she pulled him up with a grunt. Blu stumbled, then dusted off his chest which wasn't dirty. "Thanks." He said again.

"Of course." She replied.

Rafael flew up to their side, Nico and Pedro flanking him. "Alright gang. We're here." Rafael said as the trolley came to a stop with a sharp _lurch. _It was time to put his plan into action.

Jewel and Blu slowly climbed their way down the trolley, trying to keep the chain connecting them from getting tangled in the outer handles of the trolley as the humans climbed out. They finally touched down on the sidewalk in front of a large, abandoned hotel.

The hotel was small and made out of old stone. It was about two stories high with five old, broken windows on the front of it, three the second story, two on the first. And in the middle of the windows of the first story, were two large, ugly, metal green doors. The roof was flat and fenced, must have been some kind of balcony. And from the bottom of the hotel to the roof, was a huge amount of healthy, green ivy crawling it's away around the walls of the building.

"So, is this where Luiz lives?" Jewel asked.

Rafael shook his head, his large beak tipping side to side, Jewel tried hard not to laugh at the sight. "Nope. But we figured this is where we could stop to get a bite to eat. You two must be starved."

Jewel shrugged. "Not really." All the action today had ruined her appetite. However, just as she finished speaking, Blu's stomach gave an embarrassing, loud rumble. And the poor bird owning that stomach blushed fiercely under his feathers.

Jewel inwardly sighed in exasperation, there always had to be_ something_ that would keep her from her precious sky.

Rafael nodded, looking amused. "Well, the three of us will get some food, you two wait at the top of the building." He gestured to the top of the hotel, which had a huge, shaded balcony which would offer a beautiful view.

Blu looked up at the building nervously. He used love to read stories about old buildings back in Minnesota. He found them quite interesting, how they somehow managed to hold themselves up even long after they were forgotten, how some animals loved to make their homes in some of them. But then he came across one story about a haunted mansion that scared him out of his wits. He remembered that for the next few nights, he literally didn't sleep a wink, he was too busy keeping on the lookout for ghosts, even though his home wasn't abandoned.

"Can't we just stay down here?" Blu asked, eyeing the building worriedly.

"Afraid not." Rafael said. "Being on the sidewalk is dangerous for birds."

"Besides, why miss out on a lovely, romantic view of the city?" Nico asked. Pedro whistled through his beak. Jewel rolled her eyes, she looked like she was about to object. but she apparentally changed her mind and closed her beak. Blu inwardly sighed, but unlike Jewel, it was out of relief. He had never gone hunting or even scavenging in his whole life, and he worried he'd just hold everyone back. He was used to eating at the dinner table with Linda back in Minnesota. _Linda…_his heart ached when he thought of his best friend.

Rafael leaned close to Blu. "You two just wait up there, and well get some food." And, when Jewel wasn't looking, the toucan winked at Blu.

The three of them flew off. Jewel looked at Blu, "Well, guess we should get up there." She muttered halfheartedly. She trudged over to the hotel's huge door, her talons clicking against the sidewalk.

Something caught Blu's eye. In the bushes next to the sidewalk, he saw what looked like two large fireflies sitting side by side, but when he looked closer, it realized it was a pair of eyes. Rafael's eyes.

Blu shot him a glare, this place was creepy enough as it was, did Rafael really have to watch them like a ghost.

One of the toucan's eyes winked at him and then they both vanished into the darkness.

Suddenly Jewel sighed, making Blu jump. "Great, the doors are locked and I can't find an opening."

"Now what'll we do?" Blu asked.

Jewel examined the building, her eyes coming to rest on the ivy. "Guess we could try climbing up."

Blu swallowed hard. "You sure?"

"Let's just try it."

Jewel gripped the ivy with her talons and began climbing up, biting into the plant with her beak and flapping her wings for balance. Blu tentatively following her lead, only not flapping his wings.

Then the troubles began.

"OW!" Jewel yelped as Blu accidentally bit her tail feather, nearly losing her balance, but pulling herself together at the last minute. She looked down and gave him a none-too-pleased glare. "Sorry." Blu mumbled, quickly letting go of her tail and grabbing the ivy.

Blu gagged as he accidentally let a leaf slip into his mouth, but he spat it out.

Then Jewel accidentally kicked Blu ("Ow!")

Then Blu nearly brought them crashing down when his talons slipped. ("Be more careful!")

And then they both went into a series of accidental kicking, biting, and scratching.

"Hey!"

"Sorry!"

"Ow! Watch out!"

"You watch out!"

"OUCH! Let go of my tail!"

"Hey! Watch it with those claws!"

"Aarrgh!" Jewel finally yelled in frustration.

But they finally made it to the roof. After climbing over the fence, they both just dropped on the ground, panting.

"Finally…made…it…" Jewel mumbled, slowly getting to her feet.

"You okay?" Blu asked, copying her. Did she get hurt on the way up?

"I'm fine." She replied curtly, kicking away a vine that had curled around her talon. She then headed over to the fence, dragging Blu behind her, hopped up onto it, and settled down. Blu followed her clumsily, struggling up the old, splintery wood, and finally finding a smooth bit of wood to perch on.

It was when he settled in when he saw the fantastic view. Down the hill were hundreds, maybe thousands of stone buildings, almost all of them containing twinkling lights inside. The sun had long since set and the sky wasn't black, like back in Minnesota. It was a lovely dark blue with large, thick, dark blue clouds flecked around it like enormous bits of dust. And the jungle, in the darkness, was shaded an even darker blue and even from the city, Blu could hear it buzzing with life. "Wow…" he mumbled. "This is nothing like Minnesota."

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jewel said. "It's like this every night in the jungle. Only better, 'cause you can see the stars." She sighed. "Sometimes, when I had trouble sleeping, I would fly around this pond not far from my nest, and the stars would reflect off of the water each night. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." She sighed again, but this time with longing. "I sure miss doing it."

"Well, when we're free, you can do it again." Blu mumbled, more to himself then her, he didn't like the thought.

"What?"

"Nothing…"

Jewel then looked at Blu, she gave him a smile. "You know, earlier today, at the dance party, you were pretty good. I had no idea you could dance like that."

Blu gave an embarrassed laugh. "Thanks but, for the record, I had no idea either. But…um…you were really good too…" He replied, faltering when she gave him a weird look.

Jewel's eyes twinkled. "Thank you."

"And your singing was great too!" Blu added quickly, before she could change the subject.

Jewel smiled wider. "Oh, thank you. My mother taught me how to sing when I was little. She always sang this song I loved so much…"

"Really? Well…she was a good bird…" He said, stumbling through the conversation.

Jewel gave him a rather fierce look. "She's still alive. She only in another part of Brazil."

"Oh! Oh…um…well…I-I'm sorry…I just thought that…I didn't mean it that way…sorry…" Blu quickly replied, punctuating his odd apology with a groan.

Suddenly Jewel's face softened and she laughed. "I get it." Blu sighed with relief. Jewel suddenly frowned and looked at her talons. "My mom's perfect. She's beautiful, she's smart, and she's a good singer and flier. When I was little, I wanted to be just like her, until I began to think I could never live up to be her. Sometimes I still think that…"

"It's not true!" Blu blurted out. "You're smart, a good singer, you're fun, and you're pretty too…"

"Huh?" Jewel asked.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why did he have to add the part about her being pretty! "Er…nothing…" Blu mumbled, looking away nervously.

Jewel was silent for a while, then she yawned. "Well, it may take a while for the others to get back. Maybe we should get some rest."

"Y-yeah." Blu replied, he quickly tucked his head under his wing as all bird do when they sleep. "Good night, Jewel."

"Good night."

And through the night, as he slowly drifted off to sleep, Blu heard Jewel singing softly under her breath.

"_Here we go another day,_

_Looking for another way,_

_Tired of taking the back seat._

_Carry on from place to place,_

_Hold our heads up, smile with grace,_

_Time for tears, there's no escape._

_Hold on, you can say anything,_

_Take your shoes off and sit for a while._

_I'd like to know, if you here what I'm saying now._

_Oohh…_

_Stop changing faces,_

_Oh, it's time to go home,_

_I'm so tired of this game we play._

_Changing faces,_

_Take a look at me first,_

_There's so much for me to say…"_

_So, what you guys think? _

_The song that Jewel sings in the ending is called "Changing Faces" by E. G. Daily, it's one of my favorite songs! I meant it to be the song Jewel's mother would sing to her, that's why I had Jewel sing it as she remembered her mother. I know it may seem silly, but I would always imagine Jewel singing it._

_Please review this! It's the very first thing I've ever published in my life (as said above) and I'm very proud of this, but I want to know what you guys think. And if you have any friendly advice for future fanfics, please feel free to tell me! I'd love if you'd do that!_

_Thanks for reading! _


End file.
